Crown Prince Salman chairs Cabinet session (3/25/13)

March 25, 2013

Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz chaired a session of the Cabinet this afternoon at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh.

The ministers began with a discussion on the latest developments in the Arab and international arenas, wishing success to the Arab leaders participating in the 24th Arab Summit in Doha this week. They also welcomed the decision of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva to condemn the Israeli occupation authorities and their practices against the Palestinian people.

After reviewing a number of domestic matters, the Cabinet expressed satisfaction over the new report issued by Fitch’s, in which the global ratings agency reconfirmed the Kingdom’s AA rating and raised its economic outlook from stable to positive. The ministers also commended the works of the 2013 Jeddah Economic Forum, held under the title “Housing and Population Growth,” stressing the importance of the meeting’s theme.

Turning to its remaining agenda items, the Cabinet approved an operational plan for the transfer of tasks, responsibilities, staff, properties, documents and financial allocations of Civil Aviation from the Ministry of Defense to the General Authority for Civil Aviation; approved a number of measures regarding the issuance of national identity cards; approved an amendment to item (iv) of Cabinet decision No. (62) involving the payment of extra benefits to scholarship students accompanied by spouses; and approved the amendment of paragraph (7) of the recommendations approved by Cabinet No. (50) pertaining to the Ministry of Labor’s attempts to increase the number of Saudis employed in certain sectors.

The Cabinet approved the appointments of Dr. Mohammed Al-Hadaoui as Secretary General of the Council of Civil Service at the Ministry of Civil Service (15th rank); Abdul-Nasser Asiri as Undersecretary of the Land and Housing Organization at the Ministry of Housing (15th rank); Suleiman Al-Oraifi as Civil Engineer Consultant at the Ministry of Interior (14th rank); and Dr. Sultan Al-Subaie as Assistant Undersecretary of the Eastern Province Governorate (14th rank).